ZONE CONFERENCES

We have spent three days this week in Zone Conferences. These meetings are to train and uplift the missionaries. We were lucky enough to be able to participate in the meetings, and President Gomez was so gracious in helping us to become a part of the mission. There are seven Zones in our mission and they combine so that the conferences take three days. The missionaries are like a breath of fresh air. Their enthusiasm and love for the gospel is apparent. They love to be with each other and welcomed us with open arms and hugs (from las Hermanas). I felt that I needed to blog about this week because it was our first experience talking to the missionaries in Spanish. Wayne was given the topic of Personal Security and Security in general. He read in the "Biblia Blanca" about security and went over the procedures. He had a couple of missionaries give experiences that they have had...close calls, etc. He did a great job. He also talked about not using machetes...dah...one missionary actually got injured quite badly trying to climb a mountain using one...

My talk was on the health issues that the missionaries face....not drinking tap water, washing their hands, cleaning their apartments. To illustrate them washing their hands (remember this is in very limited Spanish) I had them actually practice with me washing their hands. I told them that they had to wash for at least 30 seconds. We sang "I am a Child of God" all the way through while they washed....at least I had them laughing with me and not at me...

They have also started calling us Elder and Hermana T....Tomkinson is really hard to say for many of them. Sister Gomez loved the idea when we told her about it....so we are now Elder and Hermana T. Part of the help that Wayne gave during the conference was getting pizza or Wendy's for the missionaries when we were done. It was a great experience for us and helped us take another step in our Spanish language growth.

Pizzas to feed the army of Helaman

One of the missionaries this week was a great Zone Leader. We knew he was a good elder when he showed Wayne and me the bottom of his shoe. It was totally worn through and he was so happy about it. Wayne then asked him, "Do you take many taxis?" We all laughed.

Elder Chambers and his worn out shoes

Another sweet moment was an old man who had come to the church to be interviewed for baptism by the Mission President. He could barely walk, and Wayne and Elder Nicolosi needed to help him. He was thrilled with the prospect of being a member.